Stoker.



W. SHORE.

snmm- I APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24, 1916.

1.203 63. Patented Oct. 31,1916.

W. SHORE.

STOKER,

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 24, I916. LQflS. Patented Oct. 31,1916.

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W 1 flaw) v WILLIAM SHORE, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

STOKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. 31, 1916.

Application filed March 24, 1916. Serial No. 86,494.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM SHORE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stokers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to automatic stokers and has for its object to provide a simple and efficient agitatorfor preventing clogging of coal in a hopper.

To the above ends, generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation with some parts broken away and some parts sectioned, showing my invention applied to a stoker of commercial form; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail in section approximately on the line 00 00 of Fig. 1, some parts being shown in full; Fig. 3 is a section taken approximately on the line m m of Fig. 2, some parts being removed and some parts being indicated by dotted lines; Fig. 4 is a view in section on the line w m of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1, some portions beingbroken away and some being removed.

In stokers of standard construction, it is a common practice to force the granulated or line coal from a hopper to the grates by a multiplicity of alternately reciprocated plungers. The coal, much of which is in the form of dust, has a tendency to get clogged in the hopper, or in the discharge spout from the bottom of the hopper to the plunger seat, and it does this by a sort of a bridging action which holds back the coal and prevents the proper supply to the feed plungers.

I provide an extremely simple and efficient agitator withinthe hopper and operate this agitator in an extremely simple and efficient way from the alternately reciprocated feed plungers.

In the drawings, the hopper 1 is connected by a depending spout portion 2 to an oblique feed spout 3 that is formed integral with the plunger cylinders or seats 4. The delivery spout 3 directs the coal to the grates, not shown.

Working within the plunger 4 are feed plunger-s 5 connected by links 6 to the cranks 7 of a crank shaft 8 that is journaled in suitable bearings 9 shown as secured to the heads of the respective cylinders. This crank shaft 8 is rotated by power mechanism of well known arrangement. The two feed plungers 5, at the extreme outsides, are given their reciprocating movements in alternate order, and each is provided with a grate shaking connection including thrust rods 10 mounted to slide through guide lugs 1 on the sides of the feed spout 6 and having their outer ends 10 connected to studs 11 carried by the said outside feed plungers and working through longitudinal slots 12 in the-outside cylinders 4. The mechanism so far specifically described, is that of a standard stoker now found in commercial use.

The agitator comprises a rotary shaft 13 journaled in bearings formed on the end plates of the hopper l'and provided within the hopper with radially projecting pins 14. On each projecting end of the shaft 13 is a ratchet wheel 15 connected to and rotated therewith, and, as shown, keyed thereto by a key 16 extended diametrically through the shaft with its ends engaging notches formed in the cooperating ratchet wheel. Each ratchet wheel cooperates with a gravity-held driving dog 17 carried by a ratchet lever 18. Each ratchet wheel 18 is provided with laterally spaced head plates 19 that are pivoted on the end of.the shaft 13 and embrace the cooperating ratchet wheel and key 16, thereby holding. the said ratchet wheel engaged with the cotiperatin key. The said head plates 19 are suitab y boltedor riveted to the respective levers 18. The depending free ends of the said levers 18 stand in position to be engaged by the heads 10 of the grate agitating rods 10. The driving dogs 17 of the two levers 18 and the cooperating ratchet wheels are arranged to drive the shaft 13 in a constant direction, and, as the two outside feed plungers 3 and, consequently, the agitating rods 10, are given their inward and outward movements in alternate order, it is evident that one of the said levers will impart rotary motion to the said agitating shaft while the other is making a returning gers. Any coal that is once thrown in frontof the feed plungers will of course, be positively forced onward to the grates of the furnace. I

As illustrated, the pawl-equipped levers 18 are gravity-retracted and their pawls 17 are gravity-held in operative engagement with the teeth of the cooperating ratchet wheels.

It will be noted that I have, by utilizing the alternate movements of the outside feed plunger-s, provided an extremely efficient v agitator at very small cost.

What I claim is:

In a stoker, the combination with a hopper and alternately reciprocated feed plungers working atthe bottom thereof, of a rotary agitator working in said hopper, a pair of ratchet wheels secured to said agitator, and pawl-equipped levers cooperating with said ratchet wheels and arranged to be vibrated in alternate order by the said alteri nately reciprocated feed plungers.

In testimony whereof I athx my signature in presence of two wltnesses.

WILLIAM SHORE.

Witnesses HARRY D. KILG RE, F. D. MERCHANT. 

